The Greater Good
by The Varajan
Summary: Seht the Kroot, is an orphan living in Tash'N the Tau capital. While living there he finds he is well the only Kroot around. One day he is adopted and four years later finds out he is being sent to school for the first time. Being the odd man out sucks...
1. Prologue

**This is my first attempt at a ****Warhammer****fic**** and it is set long before The Dark Crusade****. Let me know what you think! Here's a cookie!**

**Prologue:**

Since he was born Seht had had a lack of a stable home. On the planet Kronus, he found himself, as if struck by amnesia, bouncing from home to home and place to place. He didn't remember anything from his home in the swampy Rhean Floodlands. Orks had killed off his family and most of the clan, he became an orphan, and Kroot orphans can easily be killed if left at the mercy of the brutal swamps. He on a day of evacuation of the Rhean Floodlands, he stumbled across a parked Devilfish Troop Carrier. He recognized it as a good thing, since he was taught that Tau are friends of the Kroot. He fell asleep in it and was later found by a troop of Fire Warriors. They wanted to get him out of the transport but they didn't have the time as there were Orks attacking another troop in a nearby post. They found themselves taking their little friend, not wanting to leave him behind at the mercy of the Orks.

There Seht had his first taste of Fire Warrior battle tactics. He was overawed by their black, rectangular MC-43 rifles, encrusted with blue energy veins. After the battle he tended to the soldiers bringing them water and clumsily dressing their wounds. He was a mere infant when the troops decided to take him to a transport where they were taking civilians to Or' Es Tash'n the Tau capital on Kronus. He was assigned to an orphanage for children of war, in this place though he found himself alone, there were mostly human children, to a lesser extent Tau children, and just one Kroot child; him. He became a bit of a loner in the nursery, always tasting everything and putting everything in his mouth. This place was so different from the swamps it was amazing. He sometimes forgot he had parents, truth was he had lost them before he could even walk or see clearly. His clan took care of him, he knew that much. But even so, he was treated with a mild neglect that he knew not why it was so, but then again it was all he knew. So he couldn't recognize neglect if it bit him on his tail. He didn't notice, or mind that the other Kroot children were treated well. He was too busy digging holes in mudcrab nests so he could play with them until he got pinched.

In the nursery he stayed for a few months, he was never a handful for the Earth Caste nurses that worked there, they were about the size of a large hound, insect and drone like. Some children were as big as they were but they all followed what the nurses told them to do. Over the years the nurses of the orphanage knew well how to get children to behave in an orderly fashion. Little Seht would always go out on his own around the nursery looking in trashcans seeing if there was something he could play with, or something new to sniff or eat. Apart from the occasional rice, Pake fruit and meat he only found cans and materials in the containers. His mind constantly wandered back to his rifle wielding saviors. How brave and strong they were, how they masterfully wielded their long rifles at long and close combat. He decided one day to build himself one, which ended up being more of a series of juice containers glued together and a piece of wood as a handle. He didn't like the look of the contraption but pretended to use it as a rifle to knock down blocks in his nursery. One day, one of the nurses took it and disposed of it in the trash, but was perplexed at how the same item found its way back into the nursery until she held onto it and disposed of it on trash day. Then it went away for good. Seht after a few months found himself a new home. He came to be this way as he did one of the things he likes the most; to sit outside the nursery and look at the crowds of people walk by, he would occasionally dart into the street stuttering several people he crossed paths with in order to snatch up a piece of paper to draw on, or a pen, or even some coins. There was paper to draw on in the nursery but he liked the challenge of darting out and snatching one without bumping into anyone amidst the sea of people. The nurses didn't mind him, he always came back and didn't bother anyone. He always found the outside of the nursery to be scary so he always darted back and sat in his little spot outside the nursery inspecting his find.

It was while doing this snatch and grab ritual that he met his new would be parent. While darting out to snatch up something shiny, a Tau of great size named Aukel saw him and smiled. The little Kroot was amusing. Aukel decided to see what he was up to on the way to his work in the Tau military. He squatted in front of the little Kroot who just looked at him suspiciously while holding the little coin in a "mine!" manner. The Tau spoke to the little Kroot, Seht really had no idea what to say, and didn't think it impolite to not answer. Aukel had experience with orphans and knew how to deal with them, he just spoke to them friendlily and let himself do all the talking. He offered the little Kroot a bar of chocolate which he reluctantly took from the stranger and then greedily gobble it up after sniffing the delicious substance. The Tau introduced himself after a few minutes and then asked the little Kroot his name, "Seht" the little Kroot answered, the nurses only seldom used his name, and the kids only called him "Kroot". He had begun to forget he had one and just knew himself as "me". Aukel smiled and headed off to the military armory where his duties required his assistance that particular day. He didn't notice that amongst the people, on all fours and stalking him was the little Kroot following his new friend.

When the little Kroot saw where Aukel was going he noticed two Fire Warrior soldiers standing in the front of the entrance. Seht chirped and squeaked with excitement, the faceless soldiers that saved him were there before his eyes. He felt as though he knew them all. He followed Aukel more closely and then leaped onto his back, obviously it spooked and surprised the Tau, but from his days in the field he remembered this particular grasp. It was the hold of a Kroot infant on a parent. Many a little Kroots did it to him after he befriended them, often after he gave them a bar of chocolate. He always had a way around children, he made them feel safe. He recognized the little Kroot and let him stay on his back. The little creature was a light weight to the large Tau. Seht spent the day with Aukel and saw everything inside the armory; the armor, the guns, the Hammerhead and Skyray and Devil Fish troop transports. He stayed quiet without saying a word and ignoring the fact his insect nurses where going to have a fit when they couldn't find him. Aukel bought the Kroot lunch and even if he didn't know it, Seht met Shas O' Kais. The supreme military commander of the Tau on Kronus, the large Tau mostly regarded the child with some curiosity, asking Aukel what he was going to do with it. After the day Aukel brought back Seht after the sun had gone down, and was able to spare his little assistant a reprimand from his nurses as he explained that he took the little Kroot with him rather than that the Kroot ran away with him. In the coming weeks Seht had figured out the days that Aukel went to work. And would systematically spot him amongst the crowd and latch onto his back. Aukel would always bring him some chocolate to eat. The little Kroot enjoyed being with his friend. By the month's end he knew well where everything was in the base, Aukel would send him with data disks and extremely important documents and schematics to all sorts of place in the base, the other Tau always looked at Aukel with worry. "Are you sure you should let him do that?" they would ask him, Aukel would just smile and nod. The little Kroot was eager and trustworthy, he simply enjoyed taking things to where they needed to be, just because it would help Aukel. The little Kroot would always hug his Tau's back just before hopping off and going back in the nursery on Aukel's way back home.

It was a surprise however for Seht when Aukel came inside the nursery on a day that he didn't work and spoke with the nurses. He filled some documents and gestured Seht to get on his back. Little Seht did so and found that when he was taken outside there were three other Tau waiting for them. He was shy, Aukel knew this and smiled as the little Kroot "discretely" hid behind his broad back. The other Tau went around Aukel to see the little Kroot only to start laughing when the Kroot quietly and again "discretely" slid around onto Aukel's chest. The smaller Tau caught him midway under Aukel's armpit, the little Kroot felt a little on the spot and attached himself on Aukel's back again, looking at the family with some tentative curiosity. As they walked to the opposite direction of the base, the little Kroot was explained what had happened, Aukel had adopted him, this was his family. Seht looked at him a little confused but was happy to be with Aukel, the Tau's mate was Ashara and the female youngling was Isa, and the younger male was Hak' O. Both of the little Tau looked at the Kroot curiously as they took him home, Aukel explained that Seht was a sibling not a pet, but both either way were ecstatic about having him, they wanted to play with their little brother.

When they got to the house, a quaint little place with a large greenhouse in the same they tried to convince Seht to live in a room they had separated for him. But the little Kroot liked the small ledge on top of the living room toilet which was against the wall better it gave him a vantage point of the hub of the entire house. He perched himself up there and refused to come down, but really he was just more interested in playing by avoiding the two Tau children who tried to catch him. Just to spice things up they placed some blankets and pillows in the living room and left, only to attempt and execute and ambush and catch him. In the end they learned that the little Kroot was not at all a fool when he snuck out through the bathroom window and taping a window loudly in another room to draw them away. Then darting back to the bathroom window, snatching the pillows and blankets and lugging them up there, after they came back, he gave them a satisfied look with a smile, the look that one gives another when you tricked them.

All in all he slept up there that night, and many other nights to come. He lived with his siblings and in the family for four years. When was Hak'O's age; nine and Isa was but a year older than them the two boys got ready for their first day of proper school, rather than being home schooled as was customary for their first ten years. Little Seht was excited, somewhat, he hadn't made any friends besides his siblings and didn't get along too well with other neighborhood kids. Seeing a Kroot in the city was strange, unless it was a hunter, a pack soldier or a festival performer, it wouldn't be there. He had never seen another Kroot in his life since he got into the city, he wasn't looking forward to tomorrow in being in odd man out.

**So ****wadya**** think? I guess it's good. Please R&R and just so you ****know,**** this in not going to be a story about a Kroot in school. The kids are going to grow up and there is going to be war, I mean c'mon this is Dawn of War. I have read extensively about Kroot and Tau society, culture and morphoogy and...stuff. Ninety percent of the information will be accurate, the other ten percent is made up for literary purposes. Here's another cookie!**


	2. Four Years Later

**Four Years Later**

Seht woke up as he usually did; sprawled upon his bed with his head dangling over the edge. He looked around groggily, he slurped sharply, drawing back the little line of saliva dripping from his mouth. He was having a nice dream; he was home and there was an endless amount of his favorite meat around. He felt hungry, he sniffed around and noticed that everyone was still asleep and the sun hadn't even come out yet. Over time his parents allowed him to stay on top of the bathroom as his permanent residence. He had made a small tent of sorts up on his little ledge. He had his bed, his books and few toys there, not to mention some carefully hidden snacks.

Seht rolled on his back and looked at his hand. It was rougher and larger, it had sharp, thick talons. It amazed him how much he had grown in those few years, he went from a creature that was a little shorter than Hak' O, to larger than Aukel. Seht was almost six feet tall and was markedly larger than his parents and siblings, taller than everyone for that matter. He realized that the Tau are not a very physically imposing race, he was faster, stronger, more agile than his family and all the kids in the neighborhood, and because of this he was a favorite for sports even though he didn't have much of an aptitude for them, running the ball into the goal was easy enough. In the few weeks that he arrived from the nursery he became very talkative towards his siblings and family. Aukel commented that he was making up for all the things he hadn't said since he was born, and sometimes to his family's bewilderment, Seht spoke alone as if he was speaking to someone. In truth, Seht as a child and even now was happy to perform the act of speaking just for the pleasure of speaking, he was happy to chatter even if it was just to himself. Today was his first day of school and he was not looking forward to it, somehow the prospect of going to school, a place where he would be surrounded by people he didn't know and still be the only Kroot made him somewhat hectic. His family was his life and even though he was a Kroot he never felt like an outsider, he wasn't as sure the kids at school would treat him the same way.

He sighed and thought about food which was something that always held his interest. He stretched on his bed and cracked every joint in his stiff body, he wiggled his toes, his short tail. He ran his hands through the quills in the back of his head which a human once commented they looked like dreadlocks. He snapped his jaw suddenly as if waking it up and plopped down to the living room quietly. He skulked to the kitchen careful not to wake anyone, he opened the store room cocked hi head inside it and sniffed carefully.

What would he want to eat today?

He spied a nice cut of meat he left in a container marinating in blood, spices and a sour cream. He salivated as he thought about cooking it, he didn't mind raw meat, but he did mind cold meat. He liked it warm, like at body temperature, he concluded at a young age that this was probably due to the fact that Kroots are predators as he later on found out. He read several books about Kroot history and biology. In essence, his people are what they eat. When they consume meat from prey, their body can take characteristics from slain creature. The example the book gave was that Kroots who eat many birds and shape their diet correctly, would start to grow feathers and even wings. Kroot who eat Orks become stronger, Kroot who feast upon the flesh of the Dark Eldar have been known to become naturally cruel, and so on. Seht was happy to know about this stuff, it made him more conscious about what he ate and gave him a measure of pride, his people were an old, adaptable and resourceful race. And he was part of it, too bad he was the only Kroot he knew and thus had no one to share these feelings with.

As he fished the meat out of the container to be met by the powerful aroma, he heard little footsteps from hoofs coming into the living room. He recognized the step; his brother was up and about. Seht cocked his head out the hall and whistled to his brother. He turned on the heat panels and laid the meat on them, then turned to greet his sibling. Hak' O wore his sleeping robe which was little more than a really long shirt, he stood rubbing his eyes sleepily before lazily embracing Seht.

"Hello Seht", "Heyas Hack, are you alright, you usually don't wake up before the sun comes up" said Seht smiling widely. "I know, I'm just, nervous" said the young tau somewhat nostalgically as he thought about his home schooling. It had been nice while it lasted, studying at home, receiving praise from his family. Having snacks, recess, naptime when they were younger. He felt vulnerable, his family and home had been such a secure and peaceful environment. He had a feeling that the world outside was not the same.

Seht gave his brother a reassuring pat on his bald head. "No worries Hack, I'll look after you" said Seht, but to be truthful, he was nervous as hell too, but watching over someone, was helpful. Keeping himself occupied as such was soothing, he was after all, a guardian by nature and was fiercely protective of his siblings in equal measure. He even got into a fight when he was five with a Tau much larger than him, the bully got away with little more than a few scratches on the face and a good scare, Seht was unharmed but immensely proud of having fought a creature so much larger than him whilst defending his siblings. Hack felt a bit reassured by his brother's words, Seht had obviously outgrown him, towering over Hack at six feet tall. The child felt a little left out looking himself over at barely over five feet tall. He frowned realizing that Seht and he had reached their marks in growth, Hack was average in height by Tau standards, however Seht was tall by Kroot standards, a good, solid Kroot.

The meat began to sizzle as it began to change color under the effects of the heat panels. Seht turned around to tend to it and make sure it didn't over cook. Hack sat down, and as usual, waited to Seht to serve breakfast, such was another one of Seht's particular quirks. He liked to be the sous-chef of the house, second to his mother of course. He served Hack the usual grain cereals that he liked and both sat down side by side to eat in the living room. Hack switched on the holographic projector and switched it to the science channel. Both really liked its documentaries. They were both informative, and just plain fun to watch.

Later on, Isa woke up and as usual, lorded herself over them as the know it all. She was overjoyed she would have her two little brothers with her at school. Aukel and Ashara followed soon after, the pair was quietly anticipating their boy's reactions. Breakfast was unusually quiet and uncommunicative on Seht and Hack's ends. Still, Isa felt obligated to tell them all about the fun things they would get to do and all of the people they would get to meet and all the places they would get to go. Neither of them were too enthusiastic.

When it was time for school the trio of siblings were properly dressed and equipped. Hack and Isa dressed up in the usual robes of apprentices that the Tau wore to schools, along with their datapads which contained all the texts and writing space they would need. Seht on the other hand as was usual was forced to wear the robes too, the act of wearing clothing was something he hated to do, Kroot didn't wear anything, and he didn't have to inside the house. His people weren't accustomed to it and didn't wear clothing, and neither did Seht make it a point to, but of course he lived in a Tau family and as such, he had to wear clothes sometimes. He put on a pair of short sage pants and a robe like shirt of the same color, which he had sewn a hood over, he was glad that Tau didn't wear shoes like the humans, he would have put his foot down at that point.

Afterwards he shouldered his satchel and hid a few of his favorite books in it along with snacks as he said goodbye to his parents. As the trio walked the short walk in the early morning to the train, Hack and Seht followed Isa a bit hesitantly. Neither of them were looking forward to this.


End file.
